Ketty Shroff: At 71, this lady did what she always wanted to

As a young girl, Grant Road resident Ketty Shroff, 71, always wanted to be a post graduate. However, she could not fulfill her dreams because of financial constrains. But she did not lose heart and 50 years after her graduation, Ketty fulfilled her dream by doing what she desperately wanted to do — getting a post-graduate degree.

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In fact, Ketty stood first among 2,342 students who appeared for MA in Awesta Pehlavi — the language of the Zorastrian scriptures — this year from the Institute of Distance Open Learning (IDOL), Mumbai University. She was felicitated on the occasion of the convocation ceremony in the university.

After graduating from Navsari in Gujarat Ketty moved to Mumbai. She served the Central Bank of India for 35 years and retired as a manager. Ketty had decided to do her MA in 2011.

After the convocation day, Ketty suffered a heart attack on February 3. She was immediately admitted in an ICU of a nearby hospital.

Recuperating in the general ward of the hospital now, Ketty shared her experience with this reporter. She said, “My financial condition was not that stable. I completed my schooling and graduation with scholarships. I did my graduation in Economics from SB Garda College in 1964 at the age of 21.”

Talking about her life after graduation, Ketty said, “Since I got married and had kids, I could not do my masters. But I learnt the basics of Zorastrian language for five years. After that I took admission for MA in Awesta Pehlavi. It was a big task in getting admission here because I am a graduate from Gujarat. However, I managed to get provisional admission for the first year and in the second, my admission was confirmed only a day before my MA Part II final exam.”

During her Part I exam, Ketty’s husband Cyrus, 80, was getting operated in a hospital. Cyrus, said: “I clearly instructed Ketty not to worry and to go and attend her exam for which she worked so hard for a year. It is her dedication that led her to pursue her dream.”

“I am grateful to the IDOL authorities that they cooperated with me and helped me to complete my post graduation in the subject I was interested in. I felt like a celebrity when during the convocation students came to get photographed with me. May be, I could not digest this excitement and landed up in hospital the next,” said Ketty with a smile.